Proud of my hubby!

I'd just like to take a minute and brag on my hubby. Truthfully, I have a lot to brag on him for- he's a pretty amazing man, I mean- he puts up with me, so that in itself says a lot!

Ever since we began this journey of adoption, God has worked on both Joshua and I's hearts in different ways, yet with the same end result... our heart being broken more and more for the things that break His. Joshua, being a guy, tends to not be nearly as emotional as me and would lean more towards seeing the factual side of orphan care. "There's a problem, it needs to be fixed, what are we going to do?"- type outlook.  I'm grateful for this, because we balance each other out- if he were wired like me, we'd both be a big ball of dramatic tears that never got any sleep because we'd lay in bed worrying about everything all night long. I can get so wrapped up in watching a "gotcha day" video (here's a classic one that gets me every time!) that my throat will physically ache from fighting back tears (and why I fight 'em I don't know, because they ALWAYS come anyway) and I'll walk out of the computer room with red splotches all around my eyes. I swear I torture myself, but I can't stop watching! Truth be told, Joshua tends to walk away when I'm watching an emotional video, because unlike me, he'd rather not cry.

Well, several months back, I suckered him into watching this video about Project 61 and the work they were doing in Korah (a trash dump outside of Addis Abba, Ethiopia). Joshua stood behind me watching this while I sat in the computer chair and as I turned around after the video was done playing to look at him, his eyes were filled with tears (as were mine- a given!). Classic Joshua style, he came up with a solution!

As most of you know, Joshua teaches AP World History at McKinney High School. We have been blessed and amazed to see how the youth of today truly desire to make a difference and do good around the world. We personally have been blessed by students of his in our journey to Isa and have simply been in awe of their creativity, generosity, and heart!  So Joshua got to thinking...

He decided to start and sponsor a club through MHS called 2412 (named after Proverbs 24:12 "Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act."). The goal of the club was to gather students who were passionate about orphan care and to help sponsor at least one child from Korah through Project 61. Well this Friday night, Club 2412 is hosting it's first big fundraiser event, Battle of the Bands- Christmas Edition! There will be 7 bands from MHS that will playing great Christmas music and tickets are only $5 each- with 100% of ticket sales going towards sponsoring a sweet kiddo! We're hoping and praying that all 150 tickets sell which would cover the cost of one child's sponsorship for an entire year! The prep work for this night has been entirely student lead and I think they'd agree, quite the learning experience of all that goes into hosting an event. They've done a great job of going around to different restaurants and asking for donations for desserts and refreshments that we can offer during the night and they've been busy this week selling tickets during their lunch hour- and I'm confident that it's all going to turn out great!  If you're local and you'd like to come, we'd LOVE it! Shoot me an email and I can set aside some tickets for you! I would be so grateful if you'd be willing to say a little prayer for the night as well, that #1. all the tickets would sell, and #2. that God would use this night in big ways in those who are coming and possibly move more hearts to take action and love as Christ calls us to!

All this to say, I'm so proud of my hubs for thinking of a creative way to make a difference! Not only will a needy child be sponsored and given hope, but several of his high school students are able to make an eternal impact too and hopefully continue living a life of making a difference in this world! I'm so grateful to serve along side of this man!

The video that inspired Joshua to take action:


Ordinary Hero~ A day in the trash dump in Ethiopia from Kelly Putty on Vimeo.


And here's another video on Korah...